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We rotated around the room, my dress grazing the floor. The music swelled and fell as the dance ended. An invisible clock counted down the ceremony. Once we stopped moving, it hit me at once, the air suddenly impossibly thick.

“I need a moment.” I broke away from Raphael, uncertain of my destination. I pushed through a throng of onlookers, keeping my eyes down as I tried to find any exit. The grand entrance was on the opposite side of the room but— there , an opening.

I stepped out onto the balcony. The opening led directly to a balcony carved from the stone. It was empty. I went farther, for a moment, stunned by where I was.

The night sent clear, cool air into my lungs. This was the first time I’d been outside in months . I inhaled deeply, savoring it. If things went wrong, it could be the last time I was outside.

The view was glorious. I moved to the stone wall that provided a barrier from tumbling down, careful not to lean over.

Several peaks were in view, close in height, just far enough away that if I closed one eye and reached, I might think I’d be able to touch their spires.

Snow sprinkled their tops, but with the heat from the crowd still warming me, I didn’t mind the chill.

Even if I’d been shivering, I’d have endured it just to have a few moments to gather my thoughts.

But I was not alone for long.

“You don’t have to stand that far away,” I murmured .

Demos stepped forward from the doorway. I’d said I needed a moment, and Raphael had given it to me. He had not, however, left me without guard. The king’s general wore all black, as all the vampires did, but it was ornamented. The uniform of a soldier rather than formal clothing.

“I’m surprised you’re not with Thea.” It was nonsensical, but it happened to be the first thing that came to mind. I was worried if I was left in silence with my thoughts the deception would be plain on my face.

He stood six feet to my side, looking out over the cliffs. “Why would I be with her?”

Because you’re always looking at her . “You’re friends, are you not?”

“I’m to guard you .” His tone was controlled.

“I’m sure no vampire would dare touch the king’s Chosen at the Tri-Lunar Eclipse.” I kept my tone dry, but my heart pounded, daring him to contradict me.

“There are other threats,” Demos said.

A shiver went down my spine, not just from the cold air. Like what? Does he know about Titus? I dismissed the thought immediately—if Raphael knew the Witch King’s spymaster was in his midst, he’d have been tortured and killed long ago. Which meant there were other threats.

It doesn’t matter. You’re leaving .

“He cares for you, you know,” Demos said nonchalantly.

“I’m a stray he picked up and felt sorry for.” It was a good thing I didn’t have the vampire inability to lie, because the words would never have made it past my lips. He cares for you . It was an addictive thought, electrifying.

But one that had no future. Not with what I was about to do.

Demos gave me a look that said as much. “Then why have my best men been ordered to hunt down some careless vampire who got out of hand with a donor?”

My eyes widened. Raphael had said nothing of that. He’d just… let me believe the worst.

And I’d done so. Easily.

“You can go back to the party, Iademos.”

I spun around. Raphael was suddenly mere feet away, the mildest twist of irritation on his brow. In his hands, he held two crystal flutes. One was a light amber liquid in a flute, the other clear water.

I suspected I was the only human in history who had a vampire king serving her as if he were a tavern wench.

“I wasn’t certain which you would prefer.”

Iademos departed per Raphael’s instructions while I gave what should have been a simple question far too much thought.

Memories of the last time—the only time—I’d imbibed returned. I probably should stay clear-headed. Or I could use the embrace of liquor to soothe the ever-tightening knot of nerves in my stomach.

“You know I would never let anything happen to you,” Raphael said .

I reached for the liquor, not meeting his gaze. I couldn’t return the sentiment.

“Is what Demos said true?” I asked.

Raphael grimaced slightly, setting the other flute on the railing. “Demos speaks too easily. I don’t boast half-measures.”

“What happened to her being a random girl? Unworthy of your attention?” I downed my glass, keen to feel the burn down my throat even as it made me sputter.

“Perhaps things should be different than how I first saw them.”

That was as mild an apology as there could be, if it even counted. But the true apology wasn’t found in words. It was in the fact he was looking for the killer. I set the glass down next to his and stepped closer. At this distance, his scent wrapped around me, complementing the night air.

“Are you only doing this to please me?”

I wanted him to deny it.

But vampires could not lie.

“Yes.”

I turned away. What was I to do with that?

Gods, they were monstrous creatures. I’d seen proof over and over again.

But could Raphael be better? Could I teach him better?

Was such thinking hubris the gods would punish?

Or would I kill him as planned, buy my freedom through Titus’s plot, only to have a crueler king take his place ?

Guilt twisted in my stomach once more. I forced my gaze to the white-topped mountains while reinforcing my mental shield.

“Is it not obvious by now I seek to please you?” he murmured. He reached for my cheek, but I turned away. It was too much to have him this close, in those gentle tones.

“You were going to kill another human tonight if I hadn’t volunteered.”

How could I look at a man like that as though he was anything but evil?

“I was,” he confirmed. “A prisoner was reserved for the occasion, vile even by your standards, I’m sure.

” I glanced back, uncertain. Was that true?

Was it any better? His gaze didn’t waver as he continued: “But that does not absolve me, little viper. I would kill a thousand innocents to spare you any pain.”

I couldn’t be near him. I strode away, my knees shaking as I forced myself to put distance between us.

But Raphael followed me. He cornered me in a small carved-out alcove.

“Don’t run, Samara. Not from me.”

If I let him catch me, truly hold me the way I’d always craved… it would destroy me.

“You claim you seek to please me, but you planned to take my blood this entire time. You made me your Chosen, and you knew that this was a Chosen’s role.”

Raphael lifted his hands, bracing them on the top of the alcove as he leaned in.

“I have no intention of taking what you do not wish to give. You give, and you give, because you crave acceptance. If you have any flaw, it is that. If you ever wanted my bite, I would give it to you, and we both know you’d like it.

” He leaned closer. “You haunt my thoughts constantly, yet I fear I am not in yours with anything but contempt. Tell me, Samara. If I took you now, would you hate me? Regret me? Or would you crave me as ruthlessly as I crave you?”

I couldn’t answer him with words. Not as I took in his expression, like a barely leashed animal, and felt a hundred conflicting emotions.

Not as I remembered my mission, and every cruel thing the vampires had done since I’d been born.

Not as he caged me into the alcove, and for once, I didn’t feel trapped, but safe.

I surged forward and yanked the metal chain around his neck to pull him to me, and I kissed him.

I had never felt more powerful than the brief second when I felt his lips slack against me.

For once, I had shocked the vampire king.

Never more intoxicated than when he made a low, masculine sound against my lips and surged into the alcove.

I didn’t know what I was doing, didn’t know how to name the hundreds of sensations sparking through my body.

All I knew was him: his scent, his taste, the texture of his skin, the sounds he made against me.

And my body answered in kind. I’d never known cedar could have such a dark edge, but I could taste it on his tongue as he took control of the kiss.

There was nothing but this moment, this desperate need to stay in my body, wrapped in all he was.

He was an enemy, king of the monsters I despised.

May the ninth hell spare me, he was everything I craved.

Raphael slipped one hand behind my neck, cushioning me from the jagged stone.

His thumb just grazed my pulse point, my heart racing.

Not with fear, but exhilaration. He groaned slightly and the sound went straight to my core.

Want him . Need him . His other hand started at my waist and then dipped towards the front.

When his hand slid over the sheath with my dagger, I felt his lips curl against mine.

“My little viper with her fangs,” he murmured before returning to the kiss.

A venomous, treacherous viper . But the thought was chased away when he caressed my body again.

He knew my body better than I did. Every touch was like a musician’s, masterfully stirring the song of my desire.

He palmed me through the layers of my skirts, his grip firm and possessive as he moved past the dip in my legs.

The sudden pressure made me gasp against his lips.

His touch was new and exciting, but it also felt so, so right.

Like he knew exactly what I needed. When I’d touched myself before, bare skin to bare skin, I’d only ever felt a fraction of what was muffled between the fabric now.

I wrapped my arms around his back, as if to hold him there, but Raphael wasn’t going anywhere .

He continued to kiss me, hard, bruising, but I loved the sensation, the need it stirred in me. It was a hunger unlike any other. I’d felt the starts of it at times, watching him, in the kiss we’d shared in anger.

Those were embers compared to the inferno I felt now.

He stroked, and I wanted more. My thighs ached and widened for him.

His palm was hard against my center, rubbing exactly where I needed more.

I was helpless from the contact. I ground my hips against him, desperate for the friction that would bring on more pleasure.

It was so close, so tempting, driving every thought away but the hunger I felt for him—

He broke the kiss and stilled his hand.

“What?” Raphael snarled.

I flinched at the tone. But he jerked his head back and glared at something, and I realized it wasn’t directed at me. I maneuvered around his broad frame to see Amalthea.

She wore a different shade of red than the bright crimson I and the other humans did, a slightly darker shade with a purple tinge.

It was an elegant affair. Her neck was exposed, but the dress was cut high, leaving her more covered than most. Her single eye flickered to me, something unreadable in it.

“It’s time, Your Majesty,” she said simply.

No .

No, I needed more time. Needed to think through this decision .

You’re blinded by lust , a cynical part of me hissed. You’d put your body’s desire over your true kingdom? Knowing what he is, what they are?

It’s more than lust , another part argued. The tender words weren’t lies. The way he looked at me, right before I kissed him, half-stunned and then so satisfied against me, so coaxing. He wasn’t just another monster .

The thought wasn’t strong enough to overpower the memories of the bodies. My nightmares since childhood. But that’s their nature. They can’t change, they can’t help it.

My internal debate was cut too short as Raphael pulled away.

Even though the alcove sheltered me from the worst of the outside chill, it found me immediately, like an aquamancer had formed ice shackles around me.

My skirts fell back down, rumpled, and I did my best to smooth them out as though the biggest problem I had was appearing unkempt in front of the court.

Raphael gave me a regretful look. The normally composed king looked, for once, disheveled himself. His cloak was off-center, from me yanking the chain. His lips swollen and slightly darkened from the cosmetics Thea had placed on me. I froze my features to hide my own feelings.

I’d have given anything in that moment to go back to two minutes ago, when nothing had mattered but the pleasure between us.

Pleasure I’d never feel again. Not that way .

“I would take you away right now,” he murmured as I slid my palm into his offered hand. “But of all nights, this is our sacred one. For the king not to take blood would be seen as heretical. It would be to spit in Anagenni’s face.” He composed himself, rolling his shoulders back.

“I understand.” There was nothing more to say. My time had run out.

We reentered the ballroom. I wanted to vomit.

The scent of copper—blood—tinged the air.

There were no goblets of blood, not for the vampires.

Instead, a quick scan of the crowd revealed the source.

Wrists and necks alike were perforated with bite marks.

One man had marks on either side of his neck; a woman’s wore twin red bracelets of dried blood.

I stopped looking closely after that, my field of view going blurry until there was only Raphael, leading me forward, his broad shoulders covered in black lace and red jewels.

He wore red jewels. I would wear blood.

Blood and blood and blood .

He stopped in the center of the ballroom and addressed the crowd.

“People of Damerel.” He didn’t need to bellow for his voice to be heard through the ballroom.

No one so much as dared whisper while the king was speaking.

“The time has come again to honor Anagenni with our most sacred rite, the taking of blood. Tonight, we all drink from the vein, and only the vein. Tonight, we show our power, and honor the goddess-guided hierarchy Anagenni instilled. ”

He moved behind me. Two words, so soft I wasn’t sure I heard them, were breathed against my hair.

Then Raphael bent his head. His hair tickled the back of my neck.

His fingers held my wrists—my pulse points—at my side.

I stiffened in his embrace. Hundreds of eyes on us, on this moment.

Somewhere, I was certain, Titus watched with bated breath.

Guilt welled in me. I was about to commit the ultimate betrayal.

I had justified the logic over and over in my head, but I was nothing more than a scared rat, caught in a trap, waiting for my neck to be snapped.

Two sharp points grazed the column of my throat.

He was going to—

I was going to—

“ No! ”

The room froze at my cry.

“I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure who I said it to. “I can’t do this.”